PM pledges Korea will take lead in climate crisis response

Korea is set to lead the global response to the climate crisis, Prime Minister Han Seong-sook announced on Wednesday during the opening of an international conference on climate crisis. She emphasized that this summer has been the hottest on record, but it will also be the coolest summer ever experienced. The prime minister stressed that climate crisis is no longer a future threat but a present-day disaster that endangers lives.

She detailed the measures Korea has implemented, such as the Korea Green Transformation (K-GX) strategy, which aims for sustainable growth and climate action concurrently. The K-GX strategy also includes efforts to transition industries away from carbon emissions. Han noted that ten years have passed since the Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015 with the objective of keeping global warming below a 2-degree Celsius increase above pre-industrial levels.

She urged nations to produce concrete outcomes from their climate policies, as each country's efforts collectively matter.